Teen charged with false school bomb report

A former Burns High student has been arrested after the teen called 911 reporting a bomb at the school Tuesday afternoon, according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.

Donald Jarrett Thrift, 19, of the 1600 block of Monte Vista Drive in Shelby, was arrested and charged with a false bomb report and is being held at the Cleveland County Detention Center with a $250,000 bond.

According to the Cleveland County school system's spokeswoman, Donna Carpenter, Thrift attended Burns High School briefly before becoming a student at Turning Point Academy.

Carpenter said Thrift withdrew from Turning Point in November of 2009.

Sheriff's Office Capt. Joel Shores said the bomb report was made shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday when most staff and students had left the campus.

Shores said there were still some athletes on campus at the time.

He said Thrift was tracked down and in custody within an hour of the call.

"We were able to pinpoint where the call came in from," Shores said.

He emphasized the seriousness of the crime, which carries a felony charge.

"With technology today the chances of somebody getting caught doing this are very high," Shores said. "I would discourage anyone from being a copy cat."

The evacuation comes on the heels of multiple bomb threats in nearby counties in recent days, including four separate threats in as many days at Gaston County schools.